


Gotham is its own superpower

by Wundersmidget



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, F/M, Harley Quinn is recovering, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Young Justice meets the Batfamily
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2020-11-24 15:07:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20909642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wundersmidget/pseuds/Wundersmidget
Summary: Batman is off world when a mass breakout occur at Arkham Asylum, instead, he calls in the Young Justice team.





	1. Court of the Bats

The Young Justice Team was hanging around Mount Justice when they received a call from Batman.

"Team, I am assigning you to Gotham City, Nightwing will complete your briefing." Batman said before the screen went black.

"Alright Team, as the Bats already said, you are heading to Gotham City. Quite frankly, you are not ready to deal with our madness, but I also trust Batman's decision."

Kaldur Spoke up, " Why wouldn't we be ready for your city?"

"No-one is."

"That seems highly irrational, why would no-one be unable to deal with Gotham outside of you, Batman and Robin?"

Nightwing smirked. "That's your first surprise."

Behind them the Zeta Tubes opened.

_ "Recognized BF-03" _

_ "Recognized BF-04" _

_ "Recognized BF-06" _

_ "Recognized BF-07" _

_ "Recognized BF-08" _

_ "Recognized BF-09" _

Standing in front of the team were 8 costumed figures, bearing the infamous Batman or Robin symbols, except for one, this one was recognizable as the cat burglar, Catwoman. 

Drawing their weapons, the team was motioned to stand down by Nightwing and Robin.

"She's friendly."

Nightwing went over and kissed one of them, a redhead in a wheelchair, she looked vaguely familiar, though no-one could figure out why.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, we got out as soon as we could."

Kaldur decided to take that moment to speak.

"Nightwing, what is the situation, and who are all these people that you summoned."

"Team, I would like to introduce you to the BatFamily."

"A family!" Artemis exclaimed in surprise.

"Correct, on the far right is Red Hood, formally the 2nd Robin, then we have Batwoman, then Spoiler, followed by the current Robin, then Catwoman, and finally the lovely Oracle, previously Batgirl."

"The reason where here is because there has been a mass breakout from Arkham Asylum, normally we would be able to handle this easily, however, the Bats is out of town. The inmates that escaped are among the worst of Gotham, and that's saying something. The Joker, Riddler, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Two-faced and the Penguin are all on the loose in Gotham, this will be a longer mission, as well as being a chance to improve upon stealth tactics. I am in command for the duration of this mission, you will also be staying in our home, and that means that you will learn our alter egos, in our home, there is one person who you must listen to, that is Alfred, he is our butler and grandfather in all but name. Be warned, Gotham is like nothing anyone here has ever faced, listen to what we say, we all know Gotham like the back of our hand, we have fought there for most of our lives, Oracle gave here legs, Red Hood gave his life."

“But that makes no sense!” Wally Yelled “Red Hood is right here!”

“In Gotham, there are ways to return from the grave, though damaging they are.” Red Hood said.

“What do you mean?” Kaldur enquired

“That doesn’t matter.” Nightwing stated

“What does matter is the secrecy that you will be subjected to, our Identities are the most important thing to us, if any Gotham villain was to find out, we would be dealing with a lot of extra trouble.”

Red Robin spoke up. “There are groups that target both identities of ours for different reasons, such as the Court of Owls, their attacks would be non-stop if they knew who we were outside the masks and cowls.”

Pulling of his mask Nigtwing said.

“Team, I’d like you to meet Richard Gayson, but you can call me Dick.”

“You little troll!” Artemis yelled “Really! We’ll laugh about this someday?!”

Nightwing only smirked.

The rest of the Bats pulled off their masks.

  
  


“Barbara Gordon.”

“Tim Drake.”

“Jason Todd.”

“Selina Kyle.”

“Damian Wayne.”

“Kate Kane.”

“Wait, so does that mean that-”

Artemis was cut off by Dick.

“Batman is Bruce Wayne, yes he is.”

“That explains the gear.” Conner said.

Walking towards the Zeta Tubes Dick motioned for them to follow him.

Once through they found themselves in an incredibly large cave, in the centre there was a large computer, all throughout it there was a mix of gadgets and memorabilia, things such as a model T-rex and a Giant Coin.

“Welcome to the Batcave.”

Sitting at the computer was an old man, turning around he greeted the bats before introducing himself to the team.

“Good Evening, I am Alfred Pennyworth, I serve the Waynes as a butler and housekeeper, and have since Master Bruce was a child.”

Dick spoke up

“We have just received news that the Penguin has been spotted, we will liaise with Commissioner Gordon at the GCPD and then make our move.”


	2. Penguin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Penguin arrives

Travelling through the shadows of Gotham was a new experience for most of the team, even in previous stealth conditions they hadn’t had to be this silent. All they could see was Nightwing and Red Robin, other members of the Bats dropped in and out, seeming to head off, only to reappear minutes later. When one would disappear you would soon hear a few muffled sounds of a fight in the distance. Soon they all arrived on the roof of the police station, where a massive light broadcasted the Bat emblem into the night sky. Standing on the roof was a man wearing a brown overcoat.

“Nightwing! Batman informed me that he had gotten some help.”

“Yeah, Commissioner, this is the Young Justice team, Team, this is Commissioner Gordon, the Batfamily’s first point of call in Gotham.”   
  
“Yes, anyways, I'd just like to warn you, I share the Bat's views on Metas in our city, the Bat told me about each of you, only the basics of course, but enough to know that you're trustworthy, though me and him agree that once this is over, you need to leave."

"Not the best reception from Gotham huh?" Wally said.

"No, Gotham has its own problems, we do not need super powered idiots running around causing mayhem."

"That sounds a lot like what the Bat says when the league suggests a visit to Gotham." Kaldur supplied.

"As I said, I stand with the Bat."

"We're getting off topic, you said you had a lead?" Nightwing said.

"Yes, the Penguin is resurfacing, buying out mobsters, stopping firearms transports, there was once a time when organised crime ran amok in this city, this was when the Penguin first came around, it seems like he wants a return to his glory days.”

"Where could we find him?" Artemis asked.

"The Iceberg lounge, it's Penguin's centre of crime in the city, he's surprisingly rather public with his activities, it's his goons my that are the main problem." Gordon responded.

"All right, word is that the Penguin has stolen $15, 0000 from the Wayne family, this money was meant to go to a local Children's hospital, we will go over to the lounge and corner the Penguin once he is alone, whatever you do, do not do anything openly, it isn't our style." Nightwing ordered.

Artemis was paired with Huntress for the assignment, they were posted on a roof opposite the club, Huntress wad surprisingly the first one to talk.

"So Artemis Crock huh?"

Artemis wondered how on earth Huntress knew her identity.

"Don't say it out loud!" She whisper screamed.

"Don't worry, it's pretty obvious anyway, you literally took your name as your secret identity."

"Daddy issues though, if you were wearing purple I'd sue you for copyright."

"What do you mean?"

"My family was a crime family, their long dead now, had a feud with a rival gang, I had long since left though."

"Oh, I'm really sorry."

"Don't be, they were bad, but at least they weren't supervillain."

"Fair."

They descended into silence, watching the front entrance of the building. About an hour later they saw Penguin exiting, only to be dropped on by Nightwing. Bringing Penguin up to the roof he dangled him off the edge.

In a surprising voice, one that only promised violence, Nightwing started interrogating Penguin.

"Where's the money Penguin!?"

"What money! I have no clue !”

“Don’t lie, It won’t help.”

“Leave me alone you dumb bird!”

“Okay”

To Artemis’s shock, Nightwing dropped the Penguin from where he was hanging in Nightwings hand, she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable splatter, except it never came. Slowly looking over the edge, she saw the Penguin hanging from a rope that was attached to one of the building’s gargoyles.

“Last time Penguin, where have you stored the money!?”

“It’s in the lounge vault ok! Just let me go already.”

“Sorry Penguin, you’re going back to Arkham.”

True to Penguin’s word, they found the money stored in the vault beneath the lounge, it wasn’t until they got to the Batcave that Kaldur spoke up.

“I thought you didn’t kill!”

Dick’s eyebrows shot up.

“What do you mean! We never killed anyone!”

“You would have killed Penguin.”

“No, we dangled him off the edge to scare him, we dropped him to terrify him into talking, it worked, the Bat has done it for years, we aren’t changing the way we operate.”

Kaldur looked disgruntled, but nevertheless nodded resignedly.

A while later, Artemis was dismantling her bow when Helena walked up to her.

“You’re good, It was fun working with you.”

Huntress walked off, but did still see the small smile Artemis had at the recognition.


	3. Poison Ivy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team take on Poison Ivy.

For the next day, the team just hung around the manor, it was a weekend so none of the team had school. While most of the Team had stayed in the manor, and Wally had disappeared into the Batcave with Nightwing, Artemis had ventured into the forest around the manor, it was peaceful here, Artemis was sitting up in one of the shorter trees when Huntress came and sat by her.

“Fancy a competition?”

“Sure!”

Huntress took Artemis out to a range further in the forest.

“Bruce set this up for me, it helps me get piece of mind.”

At the range there were three targets, taking the target beside Huntress’s, Artemis lined up her shot, Bullseye, Huntress fired, Bullseye.

“It’s a game then.” Huntress said, grinning at Artemis.

Three hours later, and still no winner in site, Nightwing stepped into the clearing.

“It’s time, the Commissioner is waiting for us.”

Nodding to Artemis, Huntress headed back to the Manor.

  
  


Half an hour later, everyone was on the roof of the Police station again.

“Nightwing! Poison Ivy has been spotted at the greenhouses, we do not know her plan yet, be on guard.” Gordon said.

“Thanks Commissioner. Stay safe.”

“I’m not the one going against an Eco Terrorist.”

True to Gordon’s word, once the group arrived at the greenhouses, there was nothing in sight, in its place was a massive forest of green. 

“Alright, Poison Ivy has-” Nightwing was cut off by Kaldur.

“Go! Go! Go!”

“Aqualad! Wait!” 

But Aqualad didn’t hear Nightwing, the entire team, aside from Kid Flash and Artemis, ran right into the green.

“Damn it.”

“What do we do now?” Artemis asked

“Well, Ivy preys on the mind, she uses pheromones

To manipulate the minds of males, because of this, we’ve always used caution, fortunately, we now have more female members of the team, so we are going to stay put, meanwhile, Catwoman, Batwoman, Artemis and Huntress will go in. With the team inside you will need to stay together, Conner especially is a heavy hitter.” Nightwing replied, handing both green tipped arrows.

  
  


“These arrows are laced with kryptonite, if worst comes to worst, that’s what you use, all you need to do is expose Superboy to it, his Kryptonian blood will take it from there.”

A few minutes later, the four women were deep inside the greenhouses when they heard the sound of rushing water. Turning around they saw Aqualad, a cloudy look in his eyes.

“Kaldur?” 

Kaldur didn’t respond, instead charging at the closest member of the group, Catwoman. Catwoman easily stepped out of the way of Kaldur, instead, Kaldur found himself quickly taken out by a punch from Batwoman.”

Tying Kaldur up, the team quickly moved on, finally reaching the central greenhouse, here they saw an unconscious Miss Martian, Poison Ivy sat on a grassy throne in the centre, with Superboy standing beside her.

“Ah, our guests have arrived, Superboy, deal with them.”

Huntress and Artemis were left to deal with Conner while the other two dealt with Ivy. Out of the corner of her eye, Artemis saw Ivy using vines as whips while dodging Catwoman’s whip. Taking use of Conner's addled state, Huntress and Artemis kept moving, dodging all of Conner’s attacks. Artemis dodged Conner, drawing his attention to her, meanwhile, Huntress easily got behind and exposed him to the Kryptonite.

With Conner down the two moved towards the ongoing fight. Ivy seemed to be winning, beating the two heroines down without stopping, acting quickly, Artemis stepped out, taking out a flame arrow she started talking.

“Surrender,” She said notching her arrow, “or the plants get it.” She said, aiming her arrow at the leafy walls around them.

Five minutes later, the group (subtract Kaldur, Conner and Megan) were all on the roof of the GCPD.

“Well done, I hear that Artemis saved many lives tonight, shows that it took a non-meta to be smart about it.”

“What about me?!” Wally exclaimed “I didn’t run in!”

“You’re fine.” Commissioner Gordon said.

“But Artemis, Thank you.”


	4. Riddler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Next up! The Riddler

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry about the wait! Just came out of exams and should hopefully get back to updating this story regularly, this one is not my best work but I have got so many ideas for the next chapter, already know which villain (Guess in the comments!) and am looking forward to that.

The next day, Artemis walked into the Batcave to a terrifying sight.

Nightwing was not happy.

He was lecturing Kaldur, Conner and Megan on the night beforehand. Talking about how in Gotham, his word goes. Artemis had to say that she agreed, Conner could have been incredibly dangerous if they hadn’t had the Kryptonite. All three, Kaldur especially, looked incredibly chastised. 

“Next time, remember that you’re in Gotham, you don’t rush in like idiots here.”

All three turned and dejectedly left the Batcave, passing Artemis as they left. 

“That was a bit harsh.”

Nightwing turned, facing Artemis.

“Maybe, but they need to learn, Gotham is different, we cannot afford mistakes, especially of this magnitude.”

Artemis noticed the Bat Computer’s screen behind Nightwing, on it, there were maps of Gotham, old newspaper cuttings, simple photos, and in the centre, there was an image of an infamous man in a green suit. A man that anyone in Gotham knew, the Riddler. Nightwing noticed where her attention was.

“His real name is Edward Nigma, or E Nigma, as he likes to be called, he was a forensic scientist in the police force, but he suffered from mental health problems, he ended up killing both a police officer and his girlfriend. A while later he started his crime spree, focusing on outwitting and embarrassing the police instead of actual crime. We’re tracking him tonight.”   
  
“And those three? Have you forgiven them yet?”

“That’s the thing, Riddler has hostages, and he sent a riddle.”

Nightwing handed Artemis a note, on the note was a riddle.

_ Where sky meets land meets sea _

_ There you will find he _

_ Who Ticks and he tocks _

_ Uses that clock _

_ To destroy all you hold dear _

“What does it mean?”

“It means that the Mad Hatter is working with him.”

“We’ll leave tonight, only tell Wally, Kaldur won’t like you leaving without the team, they still need to learn that Gotham is not like other places.”

“Fair, but why can I tell Wally?”

“He’s helped me before, understands how Gotham works.”

That night, Artemis met Nightwing in the Batcave, nodding to her he indicated the centre of the Batcave, all ready to go was the Batmobile.

“Is Batman allowing this?”

“What the Bat doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

Once they were at the Gotham harbour, where Nightwing had deduced Mad Hatter was located. Nightwing and Artemis got out, Nightwing indicated one of the larger buildings at the water's edge.

“In there.”

It was rather easy to take out Mad Hatter, what with him only being able to focus on one person at once. Unfortunately, they only found one hostage, and another riddle.

For three nights the two heroes traversed Gotham, going from the Iceberg lounge, to the art gallery, even to the GCPD! By the fourth day, Artemis wasn’t even hanging out with the team, she was just sleeping all day before she had to leave at night.

It was that night that was important.

She and Nightwing had been moving for the Batmobile when Megan had stepped out from behind the Batcomputer.

“Where are you two going?”

It wasn’t asked with any malice, it was pure curiosity, it seemed like she had learned her lesson from the few days beforehand.

Realising this, Nightwing responded to Megan.

“We’ve been following Riddler. He sent a Riddle to the GCPD a few days ago, only me and Artemis could go, otherwise he’d take hostages.”   
  
“But why ask for just you two?”

“As well as wanting to prove himself smarter than us, he shares the rest of Gotham’s views on Metas.”

“Ok, can I help?”

Nightwing hesitated, but then he grinned.

“Could be handy, wait for my cue.”

Half an hour later Nightwing and Artemis were face to face with the Riddler. Artemis was terrified, because her life was in Dick Grayson's hands. Riddler had immediately gotten the jump on her, and now she was hanging from the roof, with five other hostages, Nightwing was below, having to answer riddles, with each riddle freeing another hostage. That wasn’t the problem, Artemis was trying to restrain her laughter, Riddler was oblivious to that was happening behind him, by the time he turned around to release the next hostage, all that was left was a few hanging ropes over acid tanks.

Riddler screamed in fury. Spinning around and starting to attack Nightwing with his cane. Artemis was able to aim at his back from her new perch, and hit his head with a blunt arrow. Knocking him out cold.

Nightwing stood up, looked at her and nodded. Giving his silent thanks. Miss Martian came up.

“The police have arrived, the Commissioner has got the hostages.”

Nightwing nodded, jumping up to the rafters. They saw him drop through a window, towards where Gordon was located. Nodding to each other, the two remaining heroes followed him.

Later, in the Batmobile, Artemis grinned, at least one hero had learned.


End file.
